10 free, exam-style Nurse Executive, Advanced Certification (NEA-BC) practice questions with answers and explanations. No signup required. Work through them below, then take the full free NEA-BC practice test to study every exam domain.
The NEA-BC exam has 150 questions and runs 3 hours.
These 10 free NEA-BC questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Nurse Executive, Advanced Certification blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
A new CNO wants to raise engagement on a struggling unit. Rather than tying behavior to rewards and penalties, she connects each nurse's daily work to a shared vision, challenges them to rethink workflows, and coaches them individually. Which leadership approach is she demonstrating?
Correct answer: A - Transformational leadership
During a tense budget meeting, a nurse executive notices her own frustration rising, pauses before responding, and reframes her reply to keep the discussion productive. Which component of emotional intelligence is she MOST directly using?
Correct answer: D - Self-regulation of her emotional response
A nurse executive is preparing to launch a major redesign of the care delivery model across the system. Applying Kotter's model for leading change, which action should come FIRST?
Correct answer: B - Establish urgency about the need to change
A nurse manager must provide continuous 24-hour coverage for a single charge position, 7 days per week, before accounting for relief for time off. Using the standard that 1.0 FTE equals 2,080 paid hours per year, approximately how many FTEs are required just to fill that position around the clock?
Correct answer: C - 4.2 FTEs
A unit's monthly financial report shows salary expense was higher than budgeted even though patient census was lower than projected. As the nurse executive, which explanation should you investigate FIRST as the most likely driver of this unfavorable variance?
Correct answer: A - Overtime and premium pay were used to cover staffing gaps
A health system moves from fee-for-service toward a contract that pays a single fixed amount per enrolled member per month, regardless of how many services each member actually uses. Which reimbursement model is being adopted?
Correct answer: D - Capitation paid per member per month
Two department directors are in conflict over shared float-pool nurses. The nurse executive facilitates a discussion in which both directors' underlying interests are surfaced and a solution is built that expands coverage for both units. Which conflict-management approach does this reflect?
Correct answer: A - Collaborating to expand coverage for both
A wrong-site surgery has occurred. The nurse executive convenes a team to examine the sequence of events and identify the underlying system factors that allowed it to happen. Which method is being used, and what is its primary orientation?
Correct answer: B - Root cause analysis; retrospective
A team conducting an FMEA on a new infusion pump workflow rates a failure mode as Severity 7, Occurrence 4, and Detection 3. What is the Risk Priority Number (RPN) for this failure mode?
Correct answer: C - 84
Following a root cause analysis of repeated medication errors, the team debates corrective actions. According to the action hierarchy, which proposed action is the STRONGEST and most likely to prevent recurrence?
Correct answer: D - A forcing function that blocks the wrong connection
The NEA-BC exam also covers these domains. Drill them in the full free practice test:
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